“The organizers of these street actions have a double responsibility: for organizing unauthorized mass rallies, and for jeopardizing the health of the people whom they provoked to participate in them without observing any security measures,” the statement says.
Kravchuk greeted "the prudence of the Khabarovsk residents who abstained from these rallies and processions," and also thanked the security forces "for their correct and responsible attitude to those who nevertheless took to the streets."
He noted that the arrest of the governor of the Khabarovsk Territory, Sergei Furgal, came as a surprise to him, and expressed confidence that the court would establish the truth and issue a fair verdict.
Unauthorized rallies in support of Furgal have been held in Khabarovsk since Saturday, July 11, despite the ban on mass events due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, then 10 to 12 thousand people left.